What:  July 3rd Alley Kat

Where:  The bell tower in Baker Park, Frederick City MD.  Afterparty at Krugs Place, on east street.

When: 6:30 PM

How much?  8 dollars.

Prizes?  Hell yes.  Crappy Prizes?  only for the losers.

What to bring:  A cell phone, a blinky light, a messenger bag.

Last November’s Alley Cat brought people from DC, B-more and of course Frederick out to race around the streets of Frederick, doing log pulls, making up raps on the spot, getting porn clerk signatures, and betting on virtual horses at 7-11.  We have more mad ‘nanigans planned for this summer ‘kat, so head on out, bring your bling, and see what the back streets of Frederick are about.

Prizes for: Overall Winner, Mens.  Overall, Womens, Skid Comp, Track Stand Comp, and DFL.

Questions: ask in the comments, suckers.

the what what:

frederick city alley cat, w/ checkpoints, contests, challenges, scavenger hunting, and rad urban cyclist prizes.

Where: meet at the big bell tower in baker park downtown frederick.  you know it.  MAP HERE
all the normal crap too: skid competion, track stand comp, rapping comp.

do we all know what an alley cat is?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleycat_races

the saturday after halloween, as in nov 7th.  meet at the baker park bell tower….

extra points for rad post halloween costumes.

other stuff:
bring a cell camera or a camera
a sharpie
tail light
beer bucks
messenger bag or basket
$6.66 entrance fee

anyway, i was talking to whit yesterday about sub 24 hour overnights, and he was saying he wanted to register for his wedding at REI to get some kit.  i thought: maybe maybe there are others out there who wanna know the same stuff, namely, who makes good, reliable, light, packable, and not terribly expensive kit for camping.  so i am gunna make a link list, and cory can butt in, to refute everything i say!

let’s start with the two (or 3) biggest purchases, not including panniers and racks, which is a can of worms i can crack later, if there is interest.  tents and bags.

now, i think its relatively common knowledge the synthetic bags are supposed to keep you warmer if your tent is floating down a freezing river.  however, in all my years of camping i have only once been in a situation where a sythetic bag would have been nessesary, and it was during a hurricane on an island.  and even then, i would have been cold and wet.  down lasts longer, compresses better, is natural, insulates more effectively, and costs more.  ok that last bit is the only draw back.  but campmor sells these great 20 degree bags (which mel has one of) that dont break the bank, are pretty light, hold up well (6 years and counting) and are warm enough for all but the coldest nights on the midatlantic.  and for those, there is this.  i have a lighter weight lafuma that packs to the size of a nerf ball, but on the colder nights, i am shivering and she is snug.

tents are a sticky point.  i have NEVER camped somewhere where i couldnt tie my tent up to a tree or use sticks to set it up.  however, some people are afraid of pole-less tents, or non-free standing tents.  if i lived in the desert or on the tundra… maybe i would be to. but i live in a land of trees and sticks.  so after some consideration, we chose an MSR missing link, recently discontinued but still easy to buy, brand new.  its light, spacious, well ventilated (better than any other tent i have ever used) and packs small.  its also availible for under 200 dollars.

ok those are the big items, not that the others wont add up.

the next expensive bit would be a stove.  MSR, who makes amazingly reliable stoves, has come out with the wind pro.  no fuss, fast set up, light weight, solid pot platform.  it is based on the ultra reliable whisperlite, a backpacking mainstay for years.  it weighs 5 oz more than the pocket rocket mel and i use but makes up for it in stability and usability.  dont worry, we will make up that weight elsewhere.

the trailhouse just turned mel and i on to the big agnes sleeping mats.  lighter, more insulated, smaller packing, and cheaper than thermorest.  yes, you have to blow it up. get over it.

headlamps are a good investment and they have come leaps and bounds in recent years.  i recommend this one. light, very bright (enough to ride a bike slowly after dark) and affordable.  there are lighter ones, there are brighter ones, but this is a good compromise.

cook kit: ti if you can swing it.  all you need is a pot and maybe if you are feeling frisky a fry pan.  snow peak makes great stuff.  is it nonstick? no.  but you can scrub it out with dirt, which comes in handy, and really the non stick stuff just doesnt last.  a worthy investment.

ti sporks are cool.  get one of these instead.

ti mugs are cool.  if you are made of money, get this.  if not, get a cheap cheap plastic texsport one.  functional difference: 0.  cool factor, also 0.

i use a sort of shallow lexan bowl to eat out of.  cheap, light enough, and you can abuse it.

coffee wise, there are all sorts of ways to go.  i like the simple and effective drip system, availible at any grocery store.  wanna go hyper lite?  pack tea bags.

water filters: on the east coast chances are, you wont need one because you are always close to a store.  if you might not be, just get some iodine tablets.

mel and i splurged (well i did) on a brunton mantelless lantern.  its very cool but heavyish and not very bright.  if i had to go at it again, i would get a snow peak lantern and just deal with the mantles.

granite gear makes great stuff sacks and compression sacks.  buy the ultra light ones.  they hold up fine.

this is a basic list.  i omited clothing (buy wool) and other sundries, like toothpaste and soap.  (travel size and dr bronners in a single use jim beam bottle, respectively)  you can figure that stuff out.  or not.  email me.  other random bits: always pack a rain coat.  even if it looks clear, it can act as a vapor barrier on cold nights.  like wise a hat is always a good thing to throw in.  i like to also bring a scrap piece of cloth to sit on.  do i ever remember to? no.  but maybe you will.  lastly, cheap target brand crocs make good camp shoes.  or off brand tevas, which you can also swim in.

i went hunting today.  for antique cameras.  they were safe from purchase because i literally have 5 dollars in cash, nothing in my checking account, and only savings to fall back on.  but i went hunting anyway.  because i like antique stores.  i like the smell of them.  i like the pursuit.  i like going to the same stores i have been to tons of times, since i was a teenager, and looking for new stuff.  for instance i used to be into records alot.  now i dont even see them.  i see cameras, and old tools, and rows of books.  but i dont see vintage beer trays.  i dont see old military stuff.  all of that is stuff i used to sweat but now…  its different.  i consume hobbies…  anyway, bang, the hunt was on, the first booth had pile of old cameras.  i had never seen any of them before.  there were old canon and minolta mid range SLRs, very 1st year film student, boring and predictable and loud.  CLICK.  there was a kodak retina, which was the most complicated camera i have ever seen, levers and dials, and incremental this and millimeter that…

kodak retina

there were two argus ‘brick’ range finders which weigh as much as say… your lap top, but are smaller than a brick.  they have external focusing gears that click together, very odd…  the viewfinder is about the size of an eraser head, maybe smaller, so looking into the camera was strange indeed, made stranger by the fact that the argus brick is a rangefinder, which means there are two images in the viewfinder, one of which is yellow and sort of floats in the center, and lines up with the other image when shit is in focus… hard to explain.  basically it means that if you are trying to take a picture in low light, you can, because you arnt trying to see if its in focus, you are trying to line stuff up, which is easier when its hard to see.  regardless, looking into a pencil eraser sized window to focus anything is hard at best.

argus brick

i continued on, heartened by my initial sightings of some relatively interesting beasts.   i next encountered an 8 dollar cheap 35 mm camera from the 70s in its original wrapper.  cheap cameras give interesting distortions, so sometimes its worth the cash.  needless to say, i didnt even have that paltry sum, so i moved on.  there is a rash of cheap kodak brownie cameras out there, which take shitty pictures and are a pain to use, but from 1901-1960 they were dirt cheap or free, so there are piles of them, as they were basically ‘america’s camera’.  in the 1970s america’s new camera became the polaroid, which was also dirt cheap but the film was not…  there were scattered piles of cheap plastic polaroids, all whose film has been long discontinued, and so are good for nothing, not even good to look at, no metal bits, no german design, no japanese elegance… i passed these with a sneer and sniff…

you can usually tell who will have cameras.  they are the guy booths at the antique mall, the one with gadgets and beer paraphenalia, and oscilliscopes and fly fishing gear.  i found a yashica electro in one such booth: not a rare camera but a good one, a cheap japanese rangefinder with good optics and a big viewfinder.  it was 60 dollars.  i moved on, and quickly found a rash of yashica electros in leather cases, lens cap, etc.  cheaper!  also in the mix was a canon canonet, a strange camera in that it managed to look very sleek, but only because it hid all of the levers and dials on the bottom!  the canonet was a midpriced rangefinder, roughly equal to the yashica, but somehow more dated looking and less compelling…

yashica electro

canon canonet

i haunted the rest of the aisles but came up with only some cheap brandless box cameras of no worth, more brownies, and anouther argus brick with a mildewed viewfinder and stuck gears.

the hunt will continue anew.  when i get some fucking money.

If my attempt at making the pic a link doesn’t work, here it is again.

Simplex _ 3453 quick release skewer nuts, originally uploaded by stronglight.

Wow, posting right from flickr is radical.

I want to draw attention to this fella ‘stronglight’. He takes pretty decent bike part pics, and has an interesting collection of photos, usually from a variety of angles. He also has good vintage catalogue shots. He is not afraid to take pictures. I mean, he has shots of Campy bolts, lever clamps, etc. It’s fantastic for an old gear wench like me. Basically: he has a good job, and no wife (life?) and buys up tons of rad bits and bikes and meticulously shoots them AND… here is the kicker… writes about them. I find his writing informed but not unbiased. In a good way. I love reading about thread pitches and nominal nuances in nut knurling. Check his stream out. I like to leave comments that assume a vast reserve of impractical knowledge.

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• shit (7x)
• bitch (6x)
• ass (4x)
• fuck (2x)
• asshole (1x)

Also.

From anouther analyzer:

ESFP – The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead – they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation – qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.